The Canucks should keep the 9th overall pick and not trade it for Sam Reinhart

The postseason is still underway, but the Vancouver Canucks have officially entered the season of rumours and rumblings. In particular, current Buffalo Sabre Sam Reinhart has been mentioned over the last few weeks, and has picked up a bit of steam over the last few days. It is also rumoured that trading away the ninth overall pick in this year’s upcoming NHL Entry Draft is in play.

Let’s start with Reinhart.

Back in May, Paul Hamilton of WGR 550 in Buffalo joined “Halford and Brough in the Morning” on Sportsnet 650, reporting that the North Vancouver native wanted out of Buffalo, and was specifically interested in a move to the West Coast.

Reinhart was also brought up by Sportsnet insider Elliotte Freidman when he spoke with Satiar Shah, Dan Riccio and Randip Janda on “The People’s Show” on Sportsnet 650. Friedman said that a number of teams, including the Canucks, have liked Reinhart for some time.

Reinhart was drafted second overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, one pick ahead of Leon Draisaitl.  He is a versatile player who can play centre or wing, and can provide a net front presence.  Reinhart has also proven that he has some playmaking talent, in addition to his goal-scoring ability.

This past season, Reinhart scored 25 goals and 15 assists in 40 games with a very bad Buffalo Sabres team.  He was 11th in goal scoring at the end of the regular season.

The Sabres have not made the playoffs in Reinhart’s six seasons with the club, so you can’t really blame him for wanting out. Jack Eichel has been reportedly disgruntled in Buffalo as well, with a trade becoming more and more imminent as the days pass, so it makes sense for Reinhart to want to jump ship, too. He is 25 years old (turning 26 in November) and is in the prime of his career. Reinhart is also a local guy, so there is no surprise that there would be interest for him to go to Vancouver.  Reinhart will be a restricted free agent this offseason.

“No one wants to go through a rebuild, especially into next year, turning 26 at the start of it or close to the start of it,” said Reinhart, at the Sabres end of season availability. “It’s tough not being able to play meaningful games down the stretch… I don’t think anyone wants to go through that.”

He was also asked about his future.

“”In terms of the future… I’m going to take some time. That stuff’s all going to get figured out when the time comes.”

So, would it really make sense for Jim Benning to look into acquiring Reinhart?

Why trading for Reinhart isn’t the best idea

First of all, adding Reinhart would help the Canucks’ top six forward group.  He would provide additional scoring on the first or second line, and could even be a third line centre.

However, he won’t come for cheap. Many believe that the Sabres would be want a first round pick from this year’s draft in return, so the ninth overall pick would be a steep price to pay. Plus, the Sabres could be asking for other assets on top of that, whether it be prospects or current roster players.

After scoring 25 goals last season, he surely would want a raise from his current $5.2 million annual salary.  Per PuckPedia, the Canucks have a projected cap space of about $15 million going into next season. We all know that is mostly going to be used for Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes‘ contracts. Oh, and they’ll also need to find a third line centre and at least one top-four defenceman.  Bottom line is that Reinhart is going to come with an expensive contract, even if it is a one or two-year deal, and the Canucks realistically won’t be able to afford his services.

Reinhart also hasn’t been too good of a play driver.

Yes, Reinhart can put pucks into the net, but given his playmaking abilities, as well as how expensive he will be, it would be in the best interest of the team if the Canucks didn’t trade for him, and they definitely should not trade away their ninth overall pick to make that happen.

In fact, the Canucks shouldn’t be trading their ninth overall pick at all.